1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to laundry machines, and, more particularly, to a safe laundry machine which enables a user to open/close a door easily, and can prevent accident caused by opening/closing of the door from taking place.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, the laundry machine is an apparatus for washing, drying, refreshing and so on the laundry. The laundry machine has a space for holding the laundry for introducing the laundry thereto, and performing operation (will be called as washing operation for convenience's sake) for making washing, drying or refreshing the laundry by using various components mounted therein.
In general, the laundry machine has a drum provided therein for holding the laundry for making the washing operation.
The user opens the door and introduces the laundry to the drum, and if the washing operation is finished, the user opens the door and takes out the laundry. The drum is designed to rotate in the washing operation, and the laundry and the washing water flows in the drum following the rotation of the drum. Alikely, the drum may have a high temperature environment formed therein for drying or the like. Due to these reasons, a door is required for user's easy opening/closing of the door, and making an inside of the drum into an enclosed space that is isolated from an outside of the laundry machine during washing, taking safety of the user into account.
The laundry machine has a door switch mounted thereto for maintaining a locking state in which the door does not open during the washing operation. The door switch maintains the locking state by power applied thereto during the washing operation, and, if the washing operation is finished, the door switch releases the locking state by power cut off if the washing operation is finished. Accordingly, in general, a related art door switch is designed to be controlled electrically depending on the washing operation.
The door switch controlled electrically thus has a problem in that many small faults take place due to frequent opening/closing and impacts of the door. In the meantime, a certain portion of the door switch can not, but be exposed to an outside of the laundry machine for opening/closing of the door, providing an environment in which electric circuits and the like are susceptible to exposure to an outside of the laundry machine, which results in malfunction and short lifetime of the door switch.
The fault of the electric door switch causes a problem in which the laundry can not be taken out of the drum as the door is unable to open, and endangers a life as a child can not open the door from an inside of the drum. Of course, there is also a problem in that, since the door is closed still even if the locking state is released, power is required for opening the door by overcoming a mechanism between the door switch and the door.
In the meantime, in the related art laundry machine, there is a type in which the door switch is provided to a door handle. In the laundry machine, the user can open the door by pressing the door switch in a state the user holds the door handle. Since the door is on a front of the laundry machine, and the door handle is provided to a side of the door, the user is required to apply power to the door in a sit down or crouching position for opening the door.
Accordingly, opening/closing of the door is not easy, and since it is required to press the door switch from an outside of the drum, making a child unable to open the door from an inside of the drum, a child's life can be endangered.